Reminiscences and Results 
of a Quarter Century 


Walter M. Hill 


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REMINISCENCES AND RESULTS OF A 
QUARTER CENTURY 


THIS catalogue forms a milestone in the road on which 
we began to travel in the year 1899, when No. 1 was 
sent out. The milestone having been reached, it is 
natural that we should meditate upon the hopeful jour- 
ney before pushing on. It would be presumptuous to 
think that these meditations possess any historical in- 
terest. Still, the history of business in America, if it is 
ever to be written, must be founded upon the balance- 
sheets of personal effort and public demand. The 
ledgers and cash books, even if they were public docu- 
ments, are of scant interest in comparison. If they 
prove any thesis, we are inclined to word it in this 
manner: ‘There is no occupation more charming and 
satisfactory than that of distributing choice and fine 
books, if the financial management involved in this 
process can be left to a special guardian. It is enough 
for any individual to keep in mind only the books, 
their intrinsic merits and virtues, their anatomic 
structure and physiological effects, their provenance 
and, if you please, their destinance. Yet we have 
attempted both functions from necessity, and sur- 
vived.~ Survived, yes, as every one respecting him- 
self and his work must, balancing between reality and 
the ideal, necessity and desire. The result is a per- 


4. WALTER M. HILL 


sonal method governing a certain sphere of influence. 
The fact that we no longer can stop, demonstrates a 
responsibility that is by no means our lightest care, for 
it is beyond our power to measure this influence or to 
change its weight. ‘This sense of our existence spells 
business responsibility, and it would indeed be a bur- 
den, if it did not spell survival! It is tempting to pur- 
sue this subject, but happily we may cut the remainder 
short by referring to the reflections of Mr. Cuthbertson, 
the genial Edinburgh University Librarian, who solves 
the problems for himself in the following way: “Do 
men really find the wishes of their youth satisfied in 
later life? Many, like’ myself, have had youthful 
visions and plans for a different career, and yet the 
desire to live amid a world of books and draw stimulus 
and light for the guidance of others, who stand in the 
public eye, has brought, in the meridian of life, many 
moments of satisfaction and delight. Material pleas- 
ures have been very evanescent. And the philosophy 
of life sometimes seems to be this from my point of 
view, that to obtain contentment and peace of mind we 
have to subdue ourselves to the conditions of life.” 
The business, then, began in 1899. The capital was 
the experience we had gained from successive appren- 
ticeship and experience at Jefferies’s in Bristol, and, in 
this country, at Bouton’s, Lauriat’s, and McClurg’s. 
Incidentally, there was a capital stock of some good 
books and $500 in cash. From the very beginning we 
pinned our faith to books of proven merit in every field, 
whether common or rare, whether expensive or not. 


ENGLISH LITERATURE 5 


In a sense the move was a venture. It is a safe proposi- 
tion to supply the public with food, clothing, and shel- 
ter, but fine and rare books have a limited distribution. 
Besides, Chicago already was on the map of the book- 
world. Yet friends came, some persisting till death 
stayed their collecting; and as they went in and out, 
books went with them. Our special field, if any can be 
defined, was /iterature in the English language. From 
the outset, the Kelmscott books, Kipling, and Stevenson 
were among our favorites, and thus they remain. There 
was one Kelmscott book in our first catalogue; in No. 
2 there were 22, in No. 3 there were 19, including a 
vellum copy of Shelley; the number rose to 27 in No. 8. 
Many of the choice pieces never reached the cata- 
logues. No. 11, with a preface by Wallace Rice, con- 
tained a Robinson Crusoe in the very choicest state, a 
Vicar of Wakefield likewise; the three Keats, Lamb’s 
Rosamund Gray, a unique Longfellow’s Translation of 
Dante with a peculiar history, a Child’s Garden of 
Verses ($25.00) and a New Arabian Nights, described 
as a remarkably clean and fine copy ($50.00), together 
with an array of Tennysons not easily duplicated even 
then. Without emphasizing the financial aspects, there 
was a copy of the J'ale of Two Cities, in the original 
parts and in choice state, which we would gladly buy 
back for the sum of $65.00 which it cost somebody then. 

The nine and ninety catalogues preceding the present 
one vary much in interest, depending, as they do, on 
- what came into the market. Some of them have, we 
have been assured, an interest for students: the cata- 


6 WALTER M. HILL 


logue of Early English Literature, the Stevenson cata- 
logue, that of Fitzgerald’s works, and our register of 
Early Printed Books. 

From the very outset we held high ideals about the 
condition of the books to be introduced to our clients. 
We never cared greatly about cripples or fragments, 
unless they were unique and there was no choice. 
Prices, no matter how you view your business, are in- 
cidental to the pulse-beat of the market, but we cannot 
overlook the fact that they may be artificially raised or 
lowered at those centers where supply and demand 
meet. We might fill a volume with reminiscences of 
prices. And since they: charm all book lovers at all 
times, let it be said here that from the very beginning 
the cheap book was as important to us as the high- 
priced treasure, other things equal. Great repute fre- 
quently follows one’s connection with transactions in- 
volving large sums of money, but the pride and flavor 
of the transaction never outshone our satisfaction about 
a true book lover obtaining a work of historically as- 
serted merit. ‘The story of the great Pickwick— the | 
Pickwick — demonstrates this point. 

We had spent, as we did annually for sixteen years, 
a summer month in making stock purchases in Eng- 
land. Our resources at last were wholly invested and 
our credit fairly well consumed, when the Pickwick 
turned up in a London House. It was a prize and a 
joy to look at. It was a privilege to spend nearly two 
days in exploring all the “points” about its parts and in 
making full notes about them. Here, then, was, at last, 


ENGLISH LITERATURE 7 


a perfect Pickwick, one of but few in existence! At 
last the bibliographic description was written, the dis- 
cussion ended, the book known to us as it ought to be. 
But we were timid in straining our resources to include 
such a purchase. One hundred and fifty Pounds Ster- 
ling, in those days, made quite a difference in our bud- 
get. At last we decided to take it for better or worse, 
and departed with Mr. Pickwick, who never left us 
till we were back in Chicago. The remainder of the 
story, in a nutshell, looks like this: We sold the book 
at once for $850. At the Lapham sale it brought 
$1450. Atthe Wallace sale it fetched $3500. In 1923 
it rose to $4600, and thus continued to vindicate its 
esteem. Nor has it yet reached its climax as an object 
of collector’s competition. But who would have been 
able to convince himself of such a. prospect fifteen or 
twenty years ago! 

We joined in the auction competitions here and 
abroad early in this century. Many sales have an in- 
teresting history, which deserves to be written while 
true facts are available. It might be told how the 
separate of Tennyson’s Timbuctoo, yet known in but 
two copies, was secured in the auction room, at the 
Hagen sale, in the face of keen, but temporarily dor- 
mant, competition, for less than one-half of the antici- 
pated price, simply because we kept our spectacles on 
our nose. Yet, Albert Pike’s Prose Sketches could be 
bought only-amidst such hardships and privations that 
no pen can describe them. 

Thackeray association copies have grown no less im- 


8 WALTER M. HILL 


portant than those of Dickens. During one of our 
early trips to London we came upon the copy of The 
Newcomes which the author inscribed to his physician 
and friend, Dr. Elliotson, who ministered to him as 
well as to Dickens. While The Newcomes was in 
preparation, Thackeray fell sick, and the publication 
of the book, in monthly parts, extended from October, 
1853, to August, 1855. ‘The copy, in addition to the 
inscription, contained one of Thackeray’s letters, with 
some characteristic jeux d’esprit; it was altogether a 
most pathetic and authentic relic — and well worth the 
price of £80. But those days were different from 
these. The sum was large for us, and it really then 
seemed risky to bring a book of such very special ap- 
peal to Chicago. We looked at it, looked again, 
thought of the risk, sighed over the price — and de- 
parted. We bid good-bye everywhere, took the ’bus, 
went to the hotel, packed our valise — and caught the 
bus once more, retracing our course to the book store. 
We left with the book in our possession. It was sold 
immediately on our return home. The price was 
$450; and the purchaser, while satisfied, could not help 
expressing in strong terms the opinion that he was 
paying dearly for the book. And he was, then. 

Some time afterwards we happened to mention this 
incident to Harry Elkins Widener. He at once be- 
came interested, having acquired the famous Char- 
lotte Bronté copy of Henry Esmond. ‘The price was 
$3000; but, said Mr. Widener, if he could obtain the 


ENGLISH LITERATURE 9 


copy we had had of The Newcomes, he would gladly 
pay the same price for it. 

About twelve years later we spent an evening with 
the possessor of the book, who, in the course of the con- 
versation, referred to his purchase and repeated the 
fact, in jest, that we had made him pay a good price, 
$450, for the treasure. We took it good-naturedly as 
it was intended, but at last remarked that we would 
buy the book back at an advanced figure. What figure, 
asked our client, whereupon we told him that we stood 
ready to take the book for $3000, or $2550 more than 
he had paid. He opened his eyes wide and gasped — 
but, being wise as well as quick, he reasoned that it 
would be unwise to sell one book from an organized 
collection; “and,” he concluded, “if 1t is worth that 
sum to you, it 1s worth it to me” 

Some persons, less enlightened, persist in believing, 
however, that booksellers establish high prices. 

We refrained from acquiring at the time of the Hoe 
sale that crest and coat of arms which would go to the 
“Knight of the Sky-Bidde,” represented in a cartoon 
as a knight standing over that puissant giant, George 
D. Smith, one foot on his thoracic expanse, into which 
we plunged our good broadsword. ‘The occasion was 
our purchase of Sir Helyas the Knight of the Swan, 
for $21,000, a copy on vellum, unique. We refrained 
because in many other cases we took the place of the 
underbidder,- behind those who wear the insignia of 
generalship — a place good enough when you protect 


IO WALTER M. HILL 


—rather than exploit—the situation. ‘“Sky-bids,” 
generally, are deceitful, yet occasionally have put some 
fine and unrecognized books where they belong. But 
in general, the spectacular element sometimes incident 
to buying and selling does not add to any great book 
the flavor of noble acquisition. It is inevitable that the 
house which bears our name would, like many others, 
assist both in assembling and in distributing a number 
of private collections, but these very transactions im- 
pose upon the agent the duty of supporting meritorious 
efforts in collecting and sustaining good judgment even 
at the risk of a temporary loss. So the House of Hill 
has tried as hard to keep clear of the spectacular, as it 
has striven to vindicate its judgment. Nobody can 
make book-selling different from any other kind of 
business. Anybody can buy and sell and profit there- 
by: the question is what and how! 

The booksellers’ method, however, operates not 
merely in buying and selling. It serves a greater pur- 
pose. Enlightenment through books calls for tact, 
sympathy, restraint, and the sense of historical contin- 
uity. We are in a measure guided by our patrons. 
We know their tastes and wishes, and this knowledge 
will leave its mark on our stock. But not altogether. 
Not in vain have we had in mind for some years to 
create a collection of works of intrinsic merit compris- 
ing books scarcely known; works of hidden beauty and 
scant recognition; literary efforts which deserve to rank 
with the long recognized treasures. There are many 
such, comparable to persons at a party, who remain in 


ENGLISH LITERATURE II 


the background, because, like some flowers, they cannot 
thrive in the open places. We would not venture to 
face collectors and collecting institutions, and assert 
our opinions, if we did not have a personal conviction 
about the potential favorites as well as about the real 
ones. And surely, none of us, vendors and purchasers, 
can move one step without that feeling for or against 
individual books and even copies, which blows life and 
spirit into our calling, our work, and even our calcula- 
tions. There is an instinct for books as infallible as 
any absolute knowledge — an instinct that creates a re- 
lation between us and our wares, or leaves us cold. An 
individual who discovers, or re-discovers, an author, 
may start a great wave of widespread sympathy. A 
single copy of a book not necessarily rare but for once 
justly appreciated and understood, may become the 
nucleus of an important collecting movement. We 
have had such books. We discover them all the time, 
and despair of multiplying copies. ‘They are like the 
unchartered islands in the ocean, the stars not yet dis- 
covered by the photographic plate. 

The dealer in rare and fine books commonly is sup- 
posed to be a servant to bibliomaniacs. Let it be un- 
derstood, however, that bibliomania died with the dis- 
solution of the great universal personal collections and 
was succeeded by the more rational and sympathetic 
spirit of bibliophilia. We now live in the era of the 
carefully organized, logically circumscribed special 
collection, which is equally removed from mania and 
from mere whim. The bibliophile nowadays insists 


12 WALTER M. HILL 


that his collection indicate in a measure his efforts in 
life, his work, or his calling. This specialization has 
been most fruitful in bringing unknown material into 
deserved esteem. It also has led to a great deal of 
useful work in bibliography. We are mindful of the 
dictum of one of our contemporaries, to the effect that 
any well organized collection on any subject whatever, 
will attract interest. 

The dealer, in his relations with his bibliophile pa- 
trons, is neither a servant nor a simple business agent. 
His initiative is called into action as often as his effi- 
ciency in procuring desirable pieces; and his judgment 
must be ready. Any subject is promising. The field 
of vision open to the dealer must be far wider than that 
of his average client. Many subjects, or groups of 
subjects, have been over-collected. It always is re- 
freshing to meet some one with an original field of in- 
terest in which the possibilities for successful work still 
are open. ‘Thus, Jocal collections, or state groups of 
authors, and topics of national importance, hitherto 
have been only sporadically worked up in America. 
Folklore holds out great promise to collectors of all 
countries. The Drama likewise. We might suggest 
also the first issues of authors’ first books, of modern 
periods, in America and England. We never yet saw 
an adequate collection of fugitive poetry of America. 
Early song-writing likewise calls for deserved atten- 
tion. Biography has been much neglected. Biogra- 
phy and autobiography, in every field, form charming 
groups. The much-debated specialty of association- 


ENGLISH LITERATURE 13 


copies still is far from being exhausted. Bindings like-. 
wise deserve much more attention than they have re- 
ceived hitherto. While science and technology are said 
to dominate our development of ideas, it is peculiar 
how indifferently they are considered by the collector. 
Dealer and collector might, however, show strong re- 
action to a fine group of unica. 

These are some reasonable possibilities. ‘Their num- 
ber and variety might be multiplied infinitely. But 
let it be understood that no bookseller can obtain last- 
ing satisfaction by being a mere procurer of books. 
Each purchase and sale, to satisfy him fully, must in- 
clude these elements: the worthy book; the commen- 
surate price; the promise of lasting satisfaction on both 
sides. 


The foregoing Reminiscences and Results of a Quar- 
ter-Century were recorded by J. Christian Bay as 
pronounced from time to time by the undersigned 


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